Three observations from Germany’s 1-0 victory over China at the Women’s World Cup

Anytime you’re involved in an international tournament, the goal is to survive and advance. Germany is one of the favorites to win the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to walk over teams in France. If their opening round match against China was any indication, it’s going to be a battle to lift the Cup.

Giulia Gwinn’s great first World Cup goal

It’s been a big year for Giulia Gwinn. She helped lead SC Freiburg to their first ever DFB Pokal Final appearance. It was announced that she would be joining Bayern Munich this summer on a three year contract. Now, she’s got her first World Cup goal, and what a goal it was!

Gwinn was always going to be overshadowed in the Germany midfield when it contains players like Svenja Huth, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Melanie Leupolz, and Sara Dabritz; however, if she builds upon this goal as the tournament progresses, watch out.

She’s going to be a great addition to the Bayern midfield next season.

The German women and men have the same Achilles’ heel

Does this sound familiar? A possession-dominating German team was nearly outplayed on the counter by an extremely physical opponent who sat deep in a 4-4-2 and attempted to burn them on the counter. Personally, the performance brought back flashbacks of Bayern Munich’s frustrating Champions League games against Atletico Madrid under Pep Guardiola. Although Germany started strong, it was China with the best chances in the first half. Yang broke away near the end of the half and attempted to chip Schult, but only hit the far post. Gu nearly scored on another opportunity in stoppage time. A few yellow cards later, Germany had an easier time managing China in the second half, scoring ultimately on a set piece. But it was hardly a glamorous win.

Lena Oberdorf just broke a record at 17

After receiving a beating at the hands of her opponents, Germany left-back mainstay Carolin Simon, who scored a spectacular long-range — and probably unintentional — goal against against Chile last week, made way for a debutante: Lena Oberdorf. At just 17 years old, 171 days, Oberdorf became the youngest-ever female player for Germany at the highest level. Oberdorf, who plays regularly for SGS Essen, has rocketed up through the ranks from Germany’s U15 up.